Belinda Watts and her family found out the hard way never to ignore the small print on a travel insurance policy. The family of six had ben looking forward to their 10-day cruise with P&O to the South Pacific for more than a year.
The Watts have four children, Lachlan 14, Connor 12, Brady 10 and Ruby 9, three of whom suffer from autism. Belinda is a full-time carer for the children and husband Andrew is a freelance photographer. The family saved long and hard so they could take a well-deserved holiday, which cost over $13,000. “We chose this cruise as Brady’s dream was to swim with turtles, he is obsessed with them” Belinda told Cruise Passenger. “We wanted to go out in the village in Port Vila to show our kids how other not so privileged kids live”.
But when they arrived at Port Macquarie Airport, they were devastated to find their Virgin Australia flight to Sydney was first delayed, then cancelled. The result was every cruise passenger’s nightmare – they would miss catching the Pacific Jewel from Sydney. “We were all crying in the airport, I just couldn’t believe it had happened”, Belinda recounted.
They called P&O but were told there was nothing that could be done, the ship would leave without them. Still, they thought, at least they had comprehensive travel insurance with reputable company Allianz. However, a rude shock awaited them when they tried to claim the cost of the cruise package they had booked through P&O.
Their claim was rejected because the insurance policy didn’t cover the cost of unused travel and accommodation “caused by delays or rescheduling by a bus line, airline, shipping line or rail authority”.
“I just couldn’t believe it”, Belinda said, “this situation is the exact reason we took out travel insurance, I just never imagined it wouldn’t be covered”.
After getting the Allianz rejection letter Belinda contacted P&O. Amazingly, the cruise line came to the rescue. They credited her P&O account within 24 hours for the full cost of the cruise package, drinks packages and shore tours totalling over $13,000.
When asked about the Watts experience P&O said: “while we were under no obligation to intervene, it would be impossible not to be moved by the Watts family’s plight and we took action accordingly”. P&O commented that this example underlines the importance of obtaining travel insurance with a company that is familiar with cruise products and understanding what the policy covers.
The Watts family have not yet re-booked their cruise but said in the future they will travel the day before to avoid the situation happening again, and they could not speak highly enough of P&O.
When asked about the Watts claim Allianz said: “For privacy reasons, we cannot provide specific information on this case. However, we would like to take the opportunity to remind and encourage travellers who purchase travel insurance to always read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS)”. Allianz went on to say that rescheduling by a carrier is a common occurrence and is excluded by most travel insurance policies.
For more information about choosing the right travel insurance visit the Insurance Council Australia website.
https://understandinsurance.com.au/types-of-insurance/travel-insurance
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This is so good of the cruise company P & O but then they are a very good company OK not the most sophisticated ships but that is only metal and décor it is the crew and the company that make it so good thank you P & O
Great generosity by P&O!
Bad advertising for Allianz regardless.
Firstly there is no small print in an Australian Travel Insurance Policy, the Watts have admitted that they did not read a contract they entered into or make sufficient provisions to get to their cruise ship in time.
Taking all the emotional stuff out of this article the issues and advice are more serious and extend way beyond travel insurance.
Anyone who makes travel arrangements relying on the airlines to get them to their destination on time is nieve or getting bad advice from their travel agent.
If one makes a $13,000 investment in travel, they need to be at their departure point the night before unless they live in the city the cruise ship is departing.
It is the travelling customer, who is making their arrangements, do not make sufficient provisions they cannot blame travel insurance if they are not covered by a common exclusion in the policy.
This story does not say who made the arrangements, who made the recommendations regarding the connections and reasonable times to be at the departure terminal, if they used a travel agent, the travel agent should know the risks associated with regional airports.
Additionally, no insurer with available products has offered a Policy for these circumstances to be covered.
Don’t always paint travel insurance as the bad guy, please have the Watts answer; the Watts did not value their investment either;
• Who did they make their bookings with
• Did the travel agent fail to give proper advice
• Were they told to travelling the day before and having one nights accommodation they would be guaranteed to depart on their cruise
• Did they read or ask questions regarding the travel insurance they purchased
• Why did they not make sure they could be at their departure point the day before and guarantee they could be at the terminal on the day of their departure.
• The Insurance Council website makes no references to Cruise Travel Insurance.
Yes, I work in the travel insurance industry.
just been reading about the Watts family missing their flight owing to a problem with their connecting flight out of Port Macquarie.
We had the same thing happen to us and we were flying down to Sydney to connect to an international flight, and then to board a ship for a cruise. We were lucky we rang up our Travel Company who in turn made a few calls and got us on another flight, which we were told was full,but apparently two seats were found for us.
I would like to congratulate P. & 0 for their generosity to the family, we have sailed many times with them and have always found them accomodating and helpful.
The Watts family will have a marvellous time and the children will love the Children’s Club and want to spend 24 hours there.
Lorraine Hogan, Broadbeach,QLD.
many times with them and have always found them accomodating and helpful